Trade Deadline Thread Monday, Feb. 24. Time: 3 p.m. ET

[mfitz804]

13 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said:

Apparently markstrom has a torn meniscus, that explains why they wanted domingue. We should have given them Cory back lol

We retain his entire salary and use our cap space to pay for 3-4 of their other guys in exchange for them taking Cory. 

[mfitz804]

10 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Would you even want to re-sign him at this point?  He's played 50 games and 47 (probably around 55-60 IF he comes back soon and stays in the lineup) the last two years and always misses time.

Personally? Nope. He's not going to be worth what he is asking for in free agency to play 50 games a season. I like him when he's healthy, but he's frequently not healthy. 

[Nicomo]

So apparently the only UFA left on the roster is Rooney. 

[Devs3cups]

Pierre Dorion just said that in his opinion and his scouting team in Ottawa that this years' draft is probably the deepest one through the first 3 rounds that he's seen in the last 20 years.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Devs3cups

[Devs3cups]

2 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

So apparently the only UFA left on the roster is Rooney. 

Who will likely be gone on july 1st...

 

 

[mfitz804]

It would have been my favorite day as a NJDevs member ever if we could have gotten back a Cinco Round Pick for Domingue. 

[titans04]

51 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

ah well sh!t

 

Ewwwwwwwww- saw 4 Checkers games earlier this season.  Kuokkanen  played in them apparently. Hopefully a change of scenery helps. I would think his NHL ceiling is on the lower side so he should fit in seamlessly.

Claesson plays with some grit and is a pretty solid AHL dman or spare NHL dman.

All that said I'm fine with launching Sami outta here, I doubt there was much of a chance of him resigning here.

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by titans04

[CommonDreads]

1 hour ago, Nicomo said:

@CommonDreads

Thoughts on Kuokkanen?

He's been a really good AHL forward for a few years now and he's someone I was high on in his draft year, really smart attacker than can both finish and set up plays but I think he's more effective as a playmaker because of his smarts. Biggest obstacle is playing with more pace, I don't necessarily think he's a bad skater but it seems like he excels more when he's able to slow the play down, so the quicker pace of the NHL has been a bit more difficult of a transition for him.

All-in-all, though, he's a good multi-tool player who I think could develop into a good 3rd line winger. I'd like to see him get a look to end the season, but at the very least he'll be a strong addition for Bingo for their playoff run if they decide to keep him in the AHL for the rest of the season.

[Devs3cups]

TRADE DEADLINE ''ACTIVITY'' RECAP (Counting Hall trade)

 

ADDITIONS:

 

F Nolan Foote

F Janne Kuokkanen

D Kevin Bahl

F Nick Merkley

G Zane McIntyre

F Nate Schnarr

D David Quenneville 

2020 1st Round Pick Conditional (ARZ)

2020 1st Round Pick Conditional (VAN)

2021 2nd Round Pick (NYI)

2021 3rd Round Pick Conditional (ARZ)

2021 5th Round Pick Conditional (BUF)

Whatever Pick* (CAR)

 

SUBSTRACTIONS: 

F Taylor Hall

F Blake Coleman

D Sami Vatanen

D Andy Greene

F Wayne Simmonds

G Louis Domingue

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Devs3cups

[Devs3cups]

As of right now, TSN Still has the trade listed as Vats for a 2nd rounder and Kuokkanen

We'll see. 

 

[nessus]

The return for Vatanen really isn't that bad. If we were on the other end of the trade, I would be nervous to give up a decent prospect for a pending UFA who has been injured for a month. If Vatanen had been healthy, that's a different story. This one isn't on Fitzgerald, it's just bad timing. From what little I know of Kuokkanen, he seems to have a playing style that will keep up with the direction the team is headed.

[CommonDreads]

Out of all of Charlotte's forwards, Kuokkanen would have been my pick out of that lot to get in a trade, so we got Carolina's best AHL forward prospect.

Overall, I would have much rather had Patrik Puistola or Tuukka Tieksola, but very possible Carolina wasn't willing to give those guys up.

[PacificDevil]

44 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

It got us in the playoffs in 2018...Vat > Henrique then.  Not really anyone's fault Vat got cheap-shotted in the playoffs and hasn't been able to stay healthy since.

Heck less than a year ago we were all penciling in Hall and Vat as part of the next 5-6 years.  Life comes at you fast (sigh)

We don’t know what would happened playoff-wise with Henrique instead of Vats in full 2017-18 season. Devils had a great record by end of Nov. ‘17

[Devilsfan118]

15 minutes ago, Devs3cups said:

As of right now, TSN Still has the trade listed as Vats for a 2nd rounder and Kuokkanen

We'll see. 

 

Fingers crossed.

 

2nd vs. Conditional 4th is huge.

[CarpathianForest]

33 minutes ago, Devs3cups said:

Who will likely be gone on july 1st...

 

 

Oh no!

[mfitz804]

23 minutes ago, nessus said:

The return for Vatanen really isn't that bad. If we were on the other end of the trade, I would be nervous to give up a decent prospect for a pending UFA who has been injured for a month. If Vatanen had been healthy, that's a different story. This one isn't on Fitzgerald, it's just bad timing. From what little I know of Kuokkanen, he seems to have a playing style that will keep up with the direction the team is headed.

Let’s see what happens. What a fun place 10 games for the rest of the year and misses the entire playoffs with injury? Is the return bad then?

[Neb00rs]

Market wasn't great for Devils players. Fitz basically got the minimum return on all three players traded today. Domingue was shipped out the door for a possibly even worse goalie, but who cares I suppose? Simmonds gone for a likely 5th rounder and Vatanen gone for a fourth round pick and potential bottom-6 NHL forward. Meh. If Vatanen is out another month, that return will make a lot more sense. Hopefully the games played requirement for the pick to turn into a 3rd is fairly reasonable.

[sundstrom]

Vats conditions:

 

 

i actually would like to think that as long as carolina makes the playoffs, it's a 3rd.

[titans04]

1 hour ago, CommonDreads said:

Out of all of Charlotte's forwards, Kuokkanen would have been my pick out of that lot to get in a trade, so we got Carolina's best AHL forward prospect.

Overall, I would have much rather had Patrik Puistola or Tuukka Tieksola, but very possible Carolina wasn't willing to give those guys up.

I would of preferred Julien Gauthier to Kuokkanen based on his ability to put the puck in the net at a much higher rate, too bad he was already dealt. We already have too many pass first guys and not enough guys who can finish.

[Neb00rs]

39 minutes ago, sundstrom said:

Vats conditions:

 

 

i actually would like to think that as long as carolina makes the playoffs, it's a 3rd.

The stipulation is exactly what it should be. Basically, if Vatanen is healthy by the playoffs [and Carolina makes it in] the Devils get a third round pick. There was a point this year that Vatanen probably could have netted a top team's first round pick but alas, Kuokkanen is player that will, at least by next year, get a shot at a bottom six role in the NHL.

[Devs3cups]

Most likely a third rounder and a solid B/B+ prospect for an injured Vats who maybe/probably wasn't staying with us beyond this season. Not a bad trade overall.

Edited February 24, 2020 by Devs3cups

[MadDog2020]

10 minutes ago, MB3 said:

if the Coleman trade was a hole-in-one, the combination of the Vatanen and Simmonds trade is silicing your drive 140 yards onto the wrong fairway, banking it off of a golf cart, and accidentally killing the course’s favorite alligator. 

unless it comes out that Vatanen had a serious injury and might not play, i’m upset. 

I’m not sure exactly what you expected, but Wayne Simmonds and an injured Sami Vatanen returning what they did is (to use another golf analogy) par for the course. No one was giving up a lot for either of them, particularly as both are on expiring contracts.

[Satans Hockey]

Just now, MB3 said:

For what they returned, i would have been happier holding onto both players. Simmonds is a bully that’s got Jack and Nico’s back. 

Simmonds sucks and he's barely done anything in the physical department this season. With Wood and Rooney and a few others on this team we have enough guys who will gladly throw hands to protect their teammates. 

 

[Daniel]

2 minutes ago, MB3 said:

For what they returned, i would have been happier holding onto both players. Simmonds is a bully that’s got Jack and Nico’s back. I’ll give you ten bucks if you can name any fifth rounder the devils have drafted in the past decade off the top of your head.

Vatanen is the best defenseman on the team — keeping him would’ve made it easier to re-sign him. I’m sure Fitzgerald got what the market could offer, and that’s fine, but if the best you could do was a 3rd and a guy who projects to be a 4th line pass-first winger, just hold on to the guy. Not like we’ll pass detroit in the tankathon anyway.

 

The point about Simmonds is debatable.  Your argument about Vatanen is nuts.  He's a pretty good defenseman, who gets injured a decent amount, gets pushed around at times and doesn't fit what the Devils want the defense to look like down the road.  It wasn't too long ago when we got dominated by Tampa in the playoffs that people were pointing to him as an example of a defenseman who was soft and gets dominated by good forwards, and that was when he was two years younger than he is now.  It would have taken the Devils giving him 4 years at the very least for him not to decide not to test free agency.  No thanks there.

The return was disappointing compared to what I thought we would get for him a month ago before he got hurt.  No one is going to give you a big return for a guy on an expiring contract who's been out nearly a month and can't get his foot in a skate yet.  Still, it looks like we'll probably get a third and the prospect should have a legit NHL future.

[mfitz804]

12 minutes ago, MB3 said:

For what they returned, i would have been happier holding onto both players. Simmonds is a bully that’s got Jack and Nico’s back. I’ll give you ten bucks if you can name any fifth rounder the devils have drafted in the past decade off the top of your head.

Vatanen is the best defenseman on the team — keeping him would’ve made it easier to re-sign him. I’m sure Fitzgerald got what the market could offer, and that’s fine, but if the best you could do was a 3rd and a guy who projects to be a 4th line pass-first winger, just hold on to the guy. Not like we’ll pass detroit in the tankathon anyway.

 

Pretty sure signing Vatanen was explored and it failed. I think he’s have been extended if that was possible. 

We didn’t trade him to tank, we traded him to get something when he left instead of nothing.